WISH grant application deadline is March 1

ISSUED: 19 February 2016MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The deadline to apply for WISH (Women Investing in Shepherd) grants is March 1. WISH will award four $20,625 grants to two tri-state area nonprofits, located in Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, and Hampshire counties in West Virginia; Clarke, Loudoun, and Frederick counties in Virginia; and Frederick and Washington counties in Maryland, and two Shepherd University learning projects and two Shepherd University learning projects.

Applicants submitting an inquiry by March 1 will be notified about their eligibility to submit a formal grant proposal.

Qualifying nonprofit organizations must be designated as 501(c)(3) public charities. Organizations and groups affiliated with Shepherd University must be university sanctioned.

Last year, WISH awarded two grants, each equaling $26,250, to Panhandle Home Health, Inc., a local nonprofit organization, and the Seeding the Future Initiative, a learning project at Shepherd University.

Panhandle Home Health, Inc. received the grant for its Wound Care Initiative program, which provided wound care certification for six nurses, who served the areas of Jefferson, Berkeley, and Morgan counties in West Virginia. This grant helped meet the goal of decreasing suffering of all patients with wounds, speeding up recovery time, and decreasing the need for re-hospitalization.

Seeding the Future Initiative, the grant recipient of the Shepherd University learning projects, strives to address the challenge of engaging middle- and high-school-age students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Dr. Jordan Mader, assistant professor of chemistry, and Dr. Sytil Murphy, assistant professor of physics, used the grant to host a one-day conference for middle-school-age girls and monthly seminars open to all high schoolers.

WISH, a women’s giving circle comprised of both alumnae and community members, was established in 2014 by the Shepherd University Foundation and a volunteer steering committee from Women for Shepherd University. WISH was created to educate, engage, and empower women to achieve their philanthropic goals.